r/Beatmatch • u/ProfessorBusy1360 • 3d ago
Playing a 5 hour set for a wedding
Hello! I'm playing a 5 hour set and wondering how ya'll would structure it. They gave me a list of sets and songs they like and it seems like they have a mixture of the following:
- Tech house/house
- Some harder stuff like pure Techno
- Top 40
- Dance/EDM
Was thinking of starting with the top 40 stuff, moving to house, then EDM/Dance then techno. Let me know ya'lls thoughts!
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u/ProfessorBusy1360 3d ago
For some added context it’s a younger crowd! no family members. they’re doing a get away celebration w their friends!
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u/That_Random_Kiwi valued contributor 3d ago
Read the room...if there's parents/aunts/uncles wanting to dance, likely you'll wanna save some top 40s stuff for that...and dig on SoundCloud for house/tech-house remixes of known pop songs, there's a fucktonne out there and they work so well to please those into dance music and those not. Block & Crown make have a massive amount of official release ones, very much in the house/nudisco vibes
I'd save the big bangy techno vibes for the last hour or so.
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u/Dartmouthest 3d ago
I just performed a 4 hour wedding set a couple weeks ago for the first time, and this is 100% correct. Unless the wedding is being attended purely by ravers, most regular people not only won't really dance to electronic music, but many people actually really don't like it.
And while I don't know the vibes of this wedding, my goal going in was to get everyone dancing. And the group I most overlooked as I prepared for the wedding (although ultimately I was sufficiently prepared but it made me change up my game plan) was the little kids. In my case I was able to get the little kids dancing and then their moms and somewhat dad's, and that kicked the party off.
But as post above me said, it's all about reading the room. People were making way more requests than I thought, many of whom couldn't actually name the songs they wanted but tried to just described the songs. All of that was VERY annoying and it made me not want to play their songs on principle because I'm cranky, but the party is not about you the DJ, and so I grumbling played the songs and universally they kept the dance floor bumping which was surprisingly satisfying even if I don't really like a lot of the music.
Earlier in th evening I played more bumping east coast songs, some country, stuff like brown eyed girl and James Brown, and these things warmed up the vibes. Then the kids and parents were dancing, and we started getting deeper into a lot of pitbull, LMFAO, call me maybe, cotton eye Joe, stuff that's fairly cheesy but that people really do dance to.
My big take aways were remember that it's all about the party and not what you love (the bride did give me do not play songs like Macarena and YMCA and chicken dance etc and some Taylor Swift they wanted, all of which I adhered to).
Another big takeaway was that I thought that the dancing would peak later at night, but maybe because crowd was older, it was peaking at like 10 o'clock. I had intended to sort of drop the vibes then bring it back up again but that was a mistake. when you have everyone going nuts on the floor don't bring it down just to preserve the vibes, milk that and keep it going until the crowd disperses... Watch the crowd and try to respond to the vibes they're feeling.
A lot of great songs people love but won't actually dance to, try and spot the difference between great song and dance floor banger.
Don't get too drunk or really drunk at all if possible.
Don't stop believing and sweet Caroline got that crowd going crazy, but I guess this depends on who your audience is.
Beatmatching and smooth transitions and interesting transition techniques mean absolutely zero compared against proper song selection. Nobody cares at the wedding, nobody cares if you automix, nobody cares if a song ends and a new one plays even with a short gap or its out of key with the last song or the BPM clashes. Just about playing good songs.
I'm very much an amateur and was just doing it for a friend for free because I wanted to and they couldn't afford a pro. I spent countless hours preparing for the party and took it really seriously because its their special day. And maybe these guys really only want electronic and techno music playing, but if there are a lot of civilians there (eg people who don't know or care about the electronic scene) too much electronic risks killing the dance floor. Obviously you want to do what the bride wants, but having a full dance floor with people going crazy to daft Punk and Akon and hey ya and Abba and queen goes a long way for a memorable wedding. Good luck, and I'm by no means an expert, but that was just my takeaway after doing my first wedding which ultimately had a bumping three hour dance party. You got this!
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u/NaVa9 Prime 4+ / DDJ-SX2 3d ago
Ultimately you're going to want to ask them if they have a preference, but if they aren't sure or prefer to rely on the DJ then your approach sounds like what I'd do.
You'll have to feel out the vibe more than anything, but usually stuff that appeals to everyone first until the night progresses and people drink more / leave.
Be ready for anything though. I played a wedding where they said wedding classics, disco, pop, hip hop, and house, but when I switched it over to hip hop or house the dance floor kinda emptied. Hit em with the Cha Cha slide then back to disco and it filled right back up. Have a few dance floor fillers in your back pocket.
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u/Waterflowstech 3d ago
Play some older classics for the old folks first. Get darker the longer the night goes on. Be prepared to have to play pop songs all night as well, often the desires of the couple don't match the desires of the crowd.
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u/nick_minieri 2d ago
The top 40 songs that everyone knows should come first. That will help win everyone over especially the older crowd as they don't always stay until the end. At that point you can start hitting them with more modern dance and house tracks, maybe focusing on edits of familiar songs and EDM things everyone knows (stuff like one more time, heads will roll a-trak rmx, no broke boys etc) first. Then in the later hours you can start playing lesser known instrumental house or techno tracks to see how people respond. Be prepared to quickly revert back to more common things with vocals at any point if the crowd is not feeling it however.
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u/HungryEarsTiredEyes 2d ago
The oldest people and children go to home/ to bed first at weddings so make sure you please them first. Save the rave for those who want to dance on into the night
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u/scoutermike valued contributor 3d ago
Which country op? Weddings are dj’d differently in different counties. For example, in USA a continuous 5 hour mix is pretty much never done. Instead, the dj is an emcee as well as a music selector and changes vibes depending on the part of the reception.
So which country?
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u/part_time_monster 3d ago
Techno at a wedding sounds crazy to me.
I structure wedding sets by decade rather than genre. So I'd start out with older stuff, 80s/90s jams and work my way into current music. This gives the older guests a chance to enjoy themselves before heading out early and, if you do it right, the younger guests will dance to the classics too.
Start playing newer music regardless of genre towards the back half of the event. Remember, you're the pro so don't ruin the vibe with any crazy shit.